Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Donut Crew Records-After School Special

We’re just a Donut Crew

Releasingthe Colorado Krew 7” EP was an exercise to
test the waters, to explore the viability of starting and maintaining a record
label that documented what my friends and I were doing music wise. The 7”
format for putting out music was a relatively inexpensive undertaking with
minimal financial risks. 500 copies of the Colorado
Krew including mastering, covers, and inserts, ended up costing a little
over $500.

My friends and I had been anticipating the box of records
arriving. Rich would call every evening to get an update, asking the collective
question, “Have they arrived yet?” My response always resulted in
disappointment on both ends of the line. Rich reminded me he had his troops
ready to send over for a folding party.

Finally, the day came when UPS left a big box at my front
door. With one phone call and no hesitation, later that evening Rich and
company were spread out on my bedroom floor folding covers and inserts. Holding
a finished product in hand made it feel like we had accomplished something. We
felt like our music was legitimized from that moment forward, and the records
was the documentation to prove it. I don’t think there was a person on the record
over 19 years old, with the youngest being 14 or 15. The big question was: How
were we going to get rid of 500 records?

It should be noted that during the late 80s and early 90s,
releasing a 7” record was almost as common as waking up in the morning and
walking to the toilet. Practically anyone who played in a band had a record
out. While putting out music helped give bands exposure, record collectors
scooped up vinyl from unknown groups, hoping to discover what might be the next
underground sensation and/or the next collectable. Distributors were privy to
the hype collectors were carving out in the punk scene; they hoped to get in on
the action.Several distributors called
and sent me letters asking to carry my catalog long before records were
reviewed or in many instances, released. It was like punk rockers were infected
with a fever to grab ahold of everything new coming out.

Donut Crew was one of the labels mixed in with a bunch other
newbies at the onset of the 7” craze. We were a very minor dot on the map of
the record label business. From 1988-90, I was only able to release seven
titles. By comparison, more established labels like Dischord and Touch and Go were
constantly releasing sought-after new titles. Big or small, anyone running an
independent label wanted to make his mark. Similar to publishing a fanzine,
making records put you in the company of like-minded people in a global arena
committed to the DIY punk ethos.

Two significant labels from the class of 1988 were
Revelation Records out of New York, and Nemesis in Long Beach. Like Donut Crew,
the pair was regional in promoting their local music scene, much like Amphetamine
Reptile in the Midwest and Sub Pop in Seattle embarked upon a couple of years
earlier in 1986.

In response to the blooming 7” craze, in late 1988, Sub Pop
seized the opportunity and started a singles of the month club.Meanwhile, titles on Revelation Records were
going out of print and becoming collectable as soon as they were released.
Revelation had exemplified the art of making represses equally as collectable
with slight variations to the cover and color vinyl pressings.

With Donut Crew, my main ambition was to give exposure to
Denver bands while hoping to recoup my costs so I could release the next
record. Fortunately, a couple of titles went into a second pressing, only
delaying the inevitable. I always felt like a salesman banging and scratching
at people’s virtual doors carrying around a vintage 45 box filled with vinyl. I
would go to shows, malls, coffee houses, and any hangout spots punk kids
gathered hoping to pawn off a couple of records. Shops like Wax Trax, Trade-A-Tape,
and Albums On the Hill were always kind enough to take my releases and pay
cash. On the other hand, dealing with distributors became one perpetual game of
chasing down checks before they could bounce. Though most companies eventually
made good on their word, a couple simply skipped out, conveniently lost
paperwork, and seldom returned phone calls and/or letters. The primary reason
Donut Crew folded was rooted in the losses incurred by distributors gone
bankrupt-morally or financially.

In the post-Donut Crew era of the early to mid 90s, the 7”
record market was flooded, and many titles fell by the wayside, ending up in
bargain bins for pennies on the dollar. I recall rescuing a couple of the
titles I put out for less than what they cost me to make. It made me feel
slightly sad to see them tucked amongst other once hopeful, but forgotten
records. If anything, running the label was a testament and a snap shot of a
moment during our youth.

Recollections and notes about each release:

DCR 001 V/A Colorado
Krew 7” EP

500 copies (red, white, and blue covers)

Track list:

Side A:

1. Acid Pigs-Survive

2. Keep In Mind-Multiple
Choice Test

3. Stomp-River

Side B:

1. Atomic Dilemma-TV
Addict

2. End of Story-Telling
Me How to Die

3. Short Fuse-Sharp

DCR 001 Colorado Krew 7" EP. The blue cover.

The original artwork for the insert.

The original artwork for the insert.

Notes: The front cover photograph was taken by
and borrowed from Neal Wallace, my former high school art teacher. While I was
preparing the front and back covers to bring to the local print shop, I
realized I didn’t have a suitable front cover image. What was the solution to
the problem? Easy, pay a visit my former high school and score artwork. I
stopped by Mr. Wallace’s room and asked if he had any pictures laying around that
I could use? (He acted somewhat surprised that I was attempting to do something
productive after graduation.) He pulled out a photograph of downtown Denver,
and perhaps out of desperation, it felt like the right image. The plan for the
back cover was to invite all the bands on the record to meet on the steps of
the Denver State Capitol Building for a group shot. End of Story endured a
three-hour drive from Glenwood Springs to be included. One of their band
members asked why we didn’t have a show since everyone had come down. Good
fucking question!Matrix/Runout (Side 1): R-11493 DCR-001-A Piss Club (Side 2): R-11494 DCR-001-B Bob Rob The Donut God

DCR 002 Acid Pigs/Short Fuse split 7” EP

500 copies (There were 70 or so variations of the Short Fuse
cover featuring a passage from Lao Tzu’s Tao
Te Ching.)

Track list:

Acid Pigs side:

1. Salvation Or Sin

2. Crowley

3. Beer’s Gone

4. Bullshit King

Short Fuse Side:

1. Hidden Inside

2. Learn

3. Doubt

DCR 002 Acid Pigs/Short Fuse split 7" EP cover.

Alternant cover for Short Fuse-the original artwork. Approx. 70 printed.

Acid Pigs and Short Fuse insert.

Notes: The Short Fuse cover was designed by Mark Putt, the
guitarist of my former band Idiots Revenge. It was supposed to be our t-shirt
design, but it never materialized. I thought it was a great drawing and had worried
it would go to waste.

The Acid Pigs had recently kicked out “Jet” Bart so Arnold
assumed vocal duties. All the tracks on the record were recorded by Arnold
using his 4-track tape deck in the basement of his mom’s house. Beer’s Gone was actually a serious
problem since members of both bands heavily consumed large quantities of the
beverage. As for Short Fuse, the band was Arnold’s alter ego for writing tuneful
melodic songs, songs that didn’t fit Acid Pigs’ gritty repertoire. Warren was the
drumless drummer of Short Fuse who lucked out one evening by spotting a badly
beaten set laying next to a dumpster. The two bands toured the East Coast in a
VW Van and Ford Bronco in the summer of 1988.

Notes: Donut Crew aspired to be something along the lines of
Dischord Records. With that in mind, Dave Clifford from Again! designed a Donut
Crew logo to replicate Dischord’s. We considered it tongue-in-cheek at the
time, but like many of our concepts, we were basically biting off of bands and
people we respected. In retrospect, I felt like Donut Crew lacked originality
design wise… and maybe the best input I had in developing an aesthetic for the
label was my terrible ability to spell words correctly. I knew my spelling was
a running joke with the bands I worked with. I think someone mentioned that
each Donut Crew release came with a built in game of searching for misspelled
words. I couldn’t disagree with the criticism; it was the truth. The permanent
Donut Crew logo came by way of Chris Johnson. Chris was a sailor in the US Navy
who had mail-ordered a couple of the releases. While he was out at sea, he made
a handful of drawings and sent them to me with a letter stating that I could
use what I wanted. In trade, I sent him a shirt and anything featuring his
artwork.

Notes: This was more Rich’s project. He was publishing his
fanzine, Skate Edge and wanted to
release records. I agreed to pitch in financially to help Rich get his band’s
record out. What really put Skate Edge
on the map was releasing Brotherhood’s No
Tolerance For Ignorance EP. Rich was always an independent spirit and had
his own way of perceiving the world and making his art and music happen on his
own terms.

Matrix/Runout (Side 1) SER-001-A Ken belongs to the spanglorian society. Eat Pop Tarts and read Skate Edge. (Side 2): SER-001-B The most important things in life can't be bought - with exception to this record.

Notes: Some of the blue covers stated: “Root beer-colored
vinyl.” It was a double meaning: color vinyl was all the rage, so we being
cheeky about the craze. Secondly, the color of the vinyl was a translucent brown
when held up to the light. In fact, it looked like a glass of root beer.

The story about the quickly made photocopied cover was the
result of a delay with the real covers being printed. I needed to get the records
in the bins at Wax Trax, so I put together something haphazard. In retrospect,
it was an impulsive and shortsighted decision; I cringe each time I’m reminded
of it.

The final cover for the EP is an image of kids storming the
steps of the state capitol. It was a blatant rip off of Society System
Decontrol’s The Kids Will Have Their Say
12” EP, but ours had a donut theme, so to say, a donut edge! By no means were
we dissing SSD; we meant it more as a nod to their greatness. Imitation is the
sincerest form of flattery, right?

After finishing our front cover photo shoot, someone in the
group spotted the then Colorado governor, Roy Romer, leaving the capitol and
heading towards his car. I immediately thought we needed a picture with him. We
eagerly charged in his direction, cutting him off before he reached his car
door. Based on our excitement, Romer granted our request for a group shot. That
WAS be the crowning image to grace the back cover.

The rationale for selecting the groups for this release was
that I wanted to reach out and include a wider variety of bands and styles that
represented the current punk scene. Dead Silence was overtly political;
Expatriate had metal edge; Warlock Pinchers mixed rap, metal, and punk with
Andy Warhol’s Pop Art sensibilities; Aberant misspelled aberrant and sounded punk as fuck. Finally, the Donut Crew franchise
bands, Again! and Keep in Mind. I loved watching those two evolve into their
own sound.Matrix/Runout (Side 1): DCR-004-A BOB "BILL WILL LARRY BERRY" ROB IS STILL THE DONUT GOD! (Side 2): DCR-004-B IF YOU THINK READING RECORDS ARE FUN, TRY READING A BOOK SOMETIME --> BUDDY!

Notes: I had hoped Again! would be one of the bands to break
out, perhaps breakaway and give Donut Crew a little recognition. They had a
crossover sound that appealed to listeners beyond the punk community. The
band’s brand of songs was easily digestible with Boulder’s college rock crowd.
Had Dag Nasty desired an opener on their Field Day tour, Again! would have been
the ideal match. Perhaps if Trainwreck
had been released in another city and on a label with a farther reach, the band
might have gained a little more mileage. The group’s lack of touring and the
fact they were immersed in their studies didn’t help matters, either.

Matrix/Runout (Side 1): DCR-005 BRADIN' FULL ON!
Matrix/Runout (Side 2): DCR-005 I FUCKED UP ON THE BRIDGE: SO BUY US A VAN!
-MEGGIT IS A SISSY-

Notes: Musically, Keep In Mind clicked on this recording
session. The group had smoothed out all of the rough edges from their previous
attempts. The songs were solid, especially So
Stained which remains one of my favorite tracks. High school graduation
eventually brought an end to the group. I’ve always imagined what another year
and a batch of new songs would have sounded like. At the band’s last show,
opening for Fugazi, Keep In Mind threw out giant inflatable Gumbys to the
audience and were returned back to the band stabbed. What else would you expect
to happen at the Aztlan?

Notes: This was the release that broke the camel’s back.
Going into it, I knew one of two things would happen: the label would continue
or close up shop. By the time the record entered its second pressing, it looked
like I might squeeze a couple more years out of Donut Crew. Then reality hit
when a couple of my distributors went belly-up still owing me large sums of
cash. Knowing the funds to keep the label afloat had vanished overnight was a
surefire sign that I needed to move on and devote my energies elsewhere.Between booking shows, playing in bands,
putting records out, and transferring to a university, I was burned out.

I’m glad Donut Crew ended on this release. It represented
the best cross section of Denver’s underground scene. The record brought
together members of bands from the early 80’s hardcore scene with kids who were
barely finishing high school. While the styles of music were a little uneven at
times, it was the most honest documentation of Denver’s eclectic underground
music scene coming into the 90s.

Matrix/Runout: DCR-007-A PLEASE BUY AGAIN A VAN SO THEY SHUT
UP. WE TOOK A VOTE, MEGGIT IS NOT AN OFFICIAL SISSY Matrix/Runout: DCR-007-B
777 BUY RECORDS WITH THE NUMBER SEVEN 777 BUY KEEP IN MIND A GUMBY Matrix/Runout:
DCR-008-A BOB ATE THE EIGHT AND KEITH WANTED HIS NAME ON A RECORD COS HE HAS
THE HAREM THAT ARNIE TOOK [USED, BORROWED, ETC] Matrix/Runout: DCR-008-B SHE
TOLD ME TO KISS HER SOMEPLACE DIRTY SO I TOOK HER TO THE BACK OF THE AZTLAN. REFER
TO MISSING SIDE A OF THE MISSING EIGHT 8

It should be noted that along with Rich Jacobs and Dave
Clifford and their bands getting Donut Crew on its feet, other people who
helped along the way were Keith “Meekster” Smith, who was my short-term
financial partner, and Matt Keleher who had always been a reliable friend,
helping in any and every capacity. Bern from Lost and Found Records in Germany
helped get hundreds of Donut Crew releases into Europe. There were kids in Australia
and Japan who brought Donut Crew to their part of the world.

Odds and ends:

Donut Crew ad for MRR.

Donut Crew catalog summer of 1989.

In Maximum Rocknroll I had placed an ad as a gimmick to
generate interest in the label. Send a stamp and get a donut seed. This
required me going out and buying a box of Cheerios and tiny zip-lock bags. It
didn’t occur to me at the time that when the “donut seeds” went through the automated
machines at the post office they would be pulverized into a pile of Cheerios
dust.

All whorizontal. I'll explain why. I saw Black Flag, MDC, 7 Seconds, Social Distortion... and other BigName bands, yet, it was allah waste: spending moolah, going to shows, hanging-out with undesirables, whorizontalites who didn't know nor did they even give a rat's ass WHO God was.

Exactly why the punkUational movement is exactly like a bowel movement: totally whorizontal: we'll never shit in Seventh-Heaven -IF- we dont wanna.